Public Safety Sergeant

Suspended For Racial Slur

COCONUT CREEK — A Public Safety Department sergeant will be suspended without pay for two days and lose a vacation day for using a racial slur when referring to the department's lone black officer.

In addition to losing $580 in pay, Sgt. Douglas Barclay, 35, also was ordered to take a 16-hour course in human diversity training, which he completed two weeks ago, Public Safety Director George Raggio said on Wednesday.

"From what I read in the [internal affairs) report, there was no malice, but whether it was a slip of the tongue or not, it was totally inappropriate," Raggio said.

The department's investigation into the incident ended on March 25 and officially concluded on Friday when Barclay did not exercise his right to file an appeal within five working days, Raggio said.

According to the investigation, the incident occurred just before the start of the evening shift on Feb. 12 in an employee lounge.

Officer Stephen Narine, 23, the only black officer in the 60-person department, and two fellow officers were in the lounge at about 7:30 p.m., "engaged in wrestling and horseplay," according to the investigation.

When Barclay entered the room and saw the three others, Barclay used the phrase "nigger pile" to describe the group wrestling and then joined in the horseplay.

Narine objected. Barclay, an 11-year veteran of the department, apologized.

But Narine told investigators the apology "did not seem sincere to me."

Barclay has served one day of the suspension and will serve the second on Sunday.

"I did not use the term to be derogatory. It just slipped out," Barclay said on Wednesday. "I think the department did absolutely the right thing in the way they handled it. I accept responsibility."

Regardless of Barclay's intent, Narine was offended by the comment, and use of racially derogatory language violates departmental and city personnel rules, Sgt. Stephen Guenther, who investigated the incident, said in the internal affairs report.

The term "is such an ugly, hateful word that tones of racial prejudice cannot be washed out of it," Guenther wrote. "The word just hurts, whether the speaker means to hurt or not."

When interviewed by Guenther during the investigation, Barclay said the term was inappropriate but not intended as derogatory.